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Southern California Edison got the green light Thursday to build the final segments of a nearly $2-billion transmission line that will connect customers with renewable energy produced by windmills. The California Public Utilities Commission approved the construction of the last 173 miles of Edison's 250-mile Tehachapi transmission project in Kern County. The line will be able to transmit as much as 4,500 megawatts of electricity produced from wind, enough power for nearly 3 million homes.

As few as two customers remain without power in El Segundo after a suspected drunk driver crashed into two power poles early Wednesday and knocked out electricity for a large swath of the city. The driver, who was not immediately identified, crashed near the intersection of El Segundo Boulevard and Sheldon Street at 2:39 a.m., according to the El Segundo Police Department. The outage affected customers from El Segundo Boulevard to Imperial Avenue, police said. The driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

The article "Electric Bill Surge Jolts Small Firms" (Sept. 28) cites complaints about the escalation of utility bills from Southern California Edison. Here in Leisure World, Laguna Hills, we are dependent upon SCE for lights, cooking, air conditioning and heat (a very inefficient system that uses ceiling coils). Apparently the buildings were designed when "selling" electricity was still in vogue. The lack of windows in the bathrooms--even the end units--necessitates turning on lights and using the electric fan. At great expense, we installed three skylights, plus a bedroom window.

The permanent closure of the San Onofre nuclear plant leaves significant unanswered questions about the future of the energy supply in Southern California, the head of the state's Public Utilities Commission acknowledged Tuesday. "How much we pay for power, how much we need, what kind of summers we have for the next couple of years, these are all matters of some uncertainty," commission Chairman Michael Peevey said in a meeting with The Times. Southern California Edison, the majority owner of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, decided last week to retire the troubled plant, citing mounting costs and uncertainty about when and if federal regulators would clear the way for the plant to restart.

Though he is devoid of solutions of his own, Benjamin Zycher ("Davis Leaves Edison Up the River Without a Paddle," Commentary, Aug. 28) seems to be ghoulishly eager for a Southern California Edison bankruptcy in the apparent hope that it will tarnish Gov. Gray Davis' successful efforts to tame the state's power crisis. Zycher is correct that the issue is contentious and has evaded quick solution. But Zycher, as a consultant to the energy industry, certainly cannot desire that the state indefinitely continue to buy power on behalf of the utilities.

A state probe into the widespread power outages caused by a furious 2011 windstorm was unable to determine whether toppled utility poles met safety standards because Southern California Edison destroyed most of them before they could be inspected. The winds that roared through the San Gabriel Valley knocked down hundreds of utility poles, snapped cables and uprooted scores of trees, leaving nearly a quarter of a million Edison customers without power, some for a full week. In a report released Monday, the California Public Utilities Commission found that at least 21 poles were unstable because of termite destruction, dry rot or other damage before tumbling over in wind gusts of up to 120 mph on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 2011.

"SCE Seeks Rate Hike" [Nov. 18] did not go far enough to explain that the purpose of our plan now before the California Public Utilities Commission is to protect our ratepayers from rate shock and the price volatility of the state's dysfunctional electricity market. If the rate freeze were to end today under existing regulatory policy, our customers would be immediately exposed to the full wholesale price of electricity, which would mean a 45% increase in their electric bills. Summer prices would be even worse, as ratepayers in San Diego experienced when their bills soared by 200%-400% this summer.

Everyone will agree with your position regarding the urgent need to ensure adequate transmission capacity and to maintain system and service reliability in California and the West (editorial, Aug. 15). I take exception, however, with your assertion that "nothing has been done in the two years since the energy crisis shocked the state into recognizing the inherent dangers in its aging and overworked electric transmission grid." Southern California Edison, other utilities and state officials have recognized the need to expand and improve the regional transmission grid and have taken action to achieve this.

The state Public Utilities Commission launched an investigation Wednesday into why thousands of Southern California Edison customers sustained a days-long loss of power after last week's furious windstorms. The Santa Ana winds knocked out power to some 430,000 Edison customers and, by Wednesday, about 2,000 San Gabriel Valley residents remained without power. The valley was the hardest-hit area by the windstorms. "Our enforcement staff is looking into why the outages occurred and why it is taking so long for power to be restored," PUC Executive Director Paul Clanon said in a statement.

Millions of dollars in renewable energy projects intended to provide power to facilities in California's national parks and forests are sitting idle because of a years-long squabble with Southern California Edison. A new $800,000 solar project at Death Valley National Park, photovoltaic panels at the state-of-the art visitors center at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and a solar power system at the U.S. Forest Service's new facility at Mono Lake are among dozens of taxpayer-funded projects in Southern California on hold as the federal agencies try to hash out an agreement with SCE to tie the projects to the state's electrical grid.

A flurry of letters that went back and forth between Southern California Edison and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries late last year reveal the serious hurdles that stand in the way of the San Onofre nuclear power plant's long-term future. The plant had been offline at that point for nearly a year because of unusual wear on tubes that carry radioactive water in the plant's newly replaced steam generators, which were designed and manufactured by Mitsubishi. Edison asked federal regulators in October for permission to restart one of the plant's two units and run it at 70% power for a few months to see if that would alleviate the conditions that led to the wear.

In response to a complaint filed by a former San Diego city attorney, an administrative judge with the California Public Utilities Commission has given Southern California Edison a March 15 deadline to file an accounting of its costs to replace steam generators at the San Onofre nuclear plant. The commission did not agree, however, to immediately stop collecting funds from ratepayers for the project. Problems with the replacement steam generators - installed in 2010 and 2011 - led to a shutdown of the plant that has stretched on for more than a year.

Southern California Edison, the operator of the troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant, pushed back against two federal lawmakers who said that the utility company was aware of defects in the plant's replacement steam generators before they were installed. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week saying that a leaked report from steam generator manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries showed that Edison and Mitsubishi knew of problems with the design.

A state probe into the widespread power outages caused by a furious 2011 windstorm was unable to determine whether toppled utility poles met safety standards because Southern California Edison destroyed most of them before they could be inspected. The winds that roared through the San Gabriel Valley knocked down hundreds of utility poles, snapped cables and uprooted scores of trees, leaving nearly a quarter of a million Edison customers without power, some for a full week. In a report released Monday, the California Public Utilities Commission found that at least 21 poles were unstable because of termite destruction, dry rot or other damage before tumbling over in wind gusts of up to 120 mph on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 2011.

SACRAMENTO - Almost 5 million Southern California Edison Co. customers in hundreds of cities and communities across the southern, central and coastal parts of the state will be hit with higher electric bills early next year and bigger hikes in each of the following two years. The decision, which Edison says will add an average of $7 a month to residential bills for the first year, covers Edison's costs to provide service, which amounts to about half a ratepayer's bill. Other costs for buying fuel and contracting for power deliveries fluctuate and are passed directly to consumers.

State regulators on Wednesday slammed Southern California Edison for outages that left nearly a quarter of a million customers without power —- some for more than a week — during a windstorm late last year. In a preliminary report, the California Public Utilities Commission concluded that some equipment, including 21 wooden poles and 17 cables used to stabilize them, did not meet safety standards. Regulators also criticized Edison for what they said was a slow response to restore power to residents and businesses.

As few as two customers remain without power in El Segundo after a suspected drunk driver crashed into two power poles early Wednesday and knocked out electricity for a large swath of the city. The driver, who was not immediately identified, crashed near the intersection of El Segundo Boulevard and Sheldon Street at 2:39 a.m., according to the El Segundo Police Department. The outage affected customers from El Segundo Boulevard to Imperial Avenue, police said. The driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Public utility investigators are recommending $99 million in fines against Southern California Edison and four telecommunication companies for allegedly overloading power poles that collapsed and sparked a wildfire in Malibu Canyon. The California Public Utilities Commission's Consumer Protection and Safety Division said in a filing Friday that Edison destroyed evidence and misled investigators about the cause of the Oct. 21, 2007, blaze, which destroyed 14 structures and 36 vehicles.

Sen. Barbara Boxer on Thursday urged Southern California Edison to expedite agreements with national parks and forests so that millions of dollars in renewable energy projects can begin producing electricity. In a letter to SCE President Ronald L. Litzinger, Boxer chastised Edison for delays that have left projects sitting idle instead of being switched on so they can reduce electric bills at park and forest facilities. Boxer's letter read, in part: "Many of these projects have been waiting to connect to the electric grid for at least two and a half years.

Millions of dollars in renewable energy projects intended to provide power to facilities in California's national parks and forests are sitting idle because of a years-long squabble with Southern California Edison. A new $800,000 solar project at Death Valley National Park, photovoltaic panels at the state-of-the art visitors center at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and a solar power system at the U.S. Forest Service's new facility at Mono Lake are among dozens of taxpayer-funded projects in Southern California on hold as the federal agencies try to hash out an agreement with SCE to tie the projects to the state's electrical grid.